Staff Report #11
August 31, 2026
To All Commissioners
Re: London Transit Commission Governance Review
Recommendation
The Commission:
- DIRECT Administration to prepare a communication to Municipal Council which summarizes the feedback from Commission members relating to the recommendations from the London Transit Governance Review; and
- RECEIVE the report for information purposes.
Background
Council direction with respect to the London Transit Governance Review included the requirement for the London Transit Commission to review the recommendations and report back to Council on implementation, including the development of a business case for any associated resource requirements (see item 4.2 on the May 28, 2026 Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee Agenda). There is no date associated with the direction to report back to Council; however a number of the recommendations have implementation periods of less than six months, and as such, Commission feedback needs to be shared in the near term in order to be considered prior to implementation.
At the June 28, 2026 meeting, a report was tabled with the Commission outlining issues that could be considered when assessing the recommendations included in the Council direction (see Enclosure I). The Commission requested Administration to undertake a survey of Commission members immediately following the June meeting to gather insights relating to each of the review recommendations, and to table the results of same at the August meeting for further discussion.
Two members of the Commission completed the survey, the results of which are included in each of the relevant sections in the remainder of this report. Subsequent to Commission discussion and direction, Administration will prepare a summary of the consensus feedback with civic Administration as input into the process of implementing each of the recommendations.
Recommendation 1 (>12 month implementation) – Enhance the Commission by adjusting member composition, incorporating additional specialized skills, and establishing subcommittees and/or advisory panels. The recommended composition is comprised of a total of seven Commission members, four of which are members of Council and three of which are citizen appointees who meet the requirements associated with the specialized skills to be identified.
Appointment Timing and Process
Commissioners were asked to identify their preferred path forward with respect to the need for a Commission to be appointed in November when the term of the current Commission ends, with one respondent suggesting the implementation period to appoint the entire Commission (7 members) be adjusted to occur immediately following the election and the other respondent indicating the preference for moving forward with appointing 4 new Commissioner/Councillors in Nov/Dec 2026 as per standard Council procedure for the majority of ABC’s and then add the remaining 3 new Commissioners/public members in March 2027.
Skillset Requirements for Citizen Appointees
Commissioners were asked via survey to provide commentary with respect to the skillsets that would be appropriate to be included in position descriptions for citizen appointees to the next Commission. The following commentary was provided:
- need more members who are regular users of LTC That should be the priority. We already have staff with audit, finance and HR skills and we would hire legal counsel and additional auditors in a professional capacity as needed.
- it should not be the role of a governance board to duplicate critical staff functions
- background in legal, accounting, transit planning or operations, government/public relations
- those with transit riding experience would be considered an asset but not mandatory
- past experience on a corporate board of comparable size or budget
- collaborative/critical thinking skills
Recommendation 2 (6-12 month implementation) – Clarify roles and responsibilities among Councillors, Commissioners, the City, and LTC staff through strengthened collaboration and communication.
Roles and Responsibilities for Parties
Commissioners were asked via survey to identify areas of concern relating to roles and responsibilities of the parties based on their experience serving on the Commission. The following responses were provided.
- We saw with the High School Bus Pass Pilot an overstepping from Council as they sought to provide direction to the Commission – of which it was initially rebuffed which ruffled some feathers for various members of Council.
- Additionally some Council members were displeased when the Commission put posters in the LTC buses to let riders know of budget deliberations, although the same Councillors did not seem as upset at the Police Board for spending $100,000 on a PR campaign during the budget.
- I think a reminder of how the LTC operates at an arms-length, and having the decision making process put into a flow chart would be helpful for the new Council and Commission to review during orientation.
- Additionally I’ve seen confusion regarding the roll out of BRT. Since the City is building the infrastructure – but the LTC will operate it – there is some level of confusion around final design decisions. An example being the LTC bus stops were apparently reviewed by a wide variety of folks, including those with accessibility backgrounds, and yet we’ve had to add temporary poles to the front end of bus stops to ensure those with vision impairment can find the front of the bus stop. It would seem to me that should have been figured out prior to the roll out of the bus stop design – and therefore members of the public wonder how that got missed and who was responsible for those design decisions.
- In regards to snow removal of bus stops, and garbage pickup around bus stops – there is also confusion from residents and Councillors as to who is responsible for that.
- Additionally, having bus stop concrete islands for accessibility is nice – but there are areas of the city without sidewalks – making it seem odd to residents that we have pads – but no sidewalks to connect them – having them wonder who is in charge of these decisions.
Recommendation 3 (3-6 month implementation) – Improve the reporting structure and increase the reporting frequency to Council to strengthen reporting clarity, improve transparency, and enable more proactive, decision-focused oversight by Council.
Commission Reporting to Council
Survey respondents indicated the following suggestions with respect to improving the reporting frequency to Council.
- there should be regular updates, at least quarterly
- it would be nice for Council to receive an email with the monthly agenda and last month’s minutes for their review, so that they can be kept apprised of ongoing items at the Commission.
- prior to budget meetings and the LTC annual report going to SPPC – an email from LTC staff to all of Council offering to discuss those items with them would be helpful and a good opportunity to connect. The Chair of the Commission could also be involved in those discussions.
Recommendation 4 (0-3 month implementation) – Introduce a comprehensive onboarding program for all newly appointed Commissioners, supported by formalized annual governance training for all members to enable Commissioners to contribute meaningfully to discussions and effectively support strategic priorities.
Onboarding Program for New Commissioners
Commissioners were asked in the survey to identify areas for improvement in the onboarding training provided to new Commission members, feedback included the following:
- orientation training has been inadequate
- training should be contracted out and completed in an arms-length manner
- increase hands-on/tour based training to ensure understanding of how LTC operates
- consider a ride-along during peak period
- ensure training reiterates the distinction between governance and operations (specifically with route planning decisions)
- include a deep dive into the 5 Year Service Plans and Business Plan documents
- meeting effectiveness and governance best practices including how agendas are developed, expectations for debate, respectful conduct, decision making and consensus building.
- implement annual board self-assessments to help ensure all members understand their governance roles
- implement an annual chair evaluation (completed by senior staff and Commission members)
- an annual board (in-city, half day) retreat would be nice to build trust and review strategic plans, relationship building etc.
Recommendation 5 (6-12 month implementation) – Enhance LTC’s current practices to ensure a balanced emphasis on long-term transit planning and day-to-day, building on the strong foundation of the 2024-2027 Business Plan.
Commissioners were asked to identify areas for improvement with respect to this recommendation, feedback included:
- more flexibility is needed
- current Work Plan and quarterly reporting process can be hard to follow and identify where the organization is going
- enhanced communication from staff as it relates to overall progress on the Business Plan initiatives would help Commission members better understand the direction we are headed in (what are the goals, how do we get there, when will we know)
- effective communication performance against Key Performance Indicators would help build confidence in the service and the ability to deliver it
Recommendation 6 (> 12 month implementation) – Enhance strategic capacity within the London Transit Commission leadership structure to strengthen strategic execution and relationship management.
Commission members were asked to provide insight with respect to areas of the organization that would benefit from an enhanced level of resources, feedback included:
- additional attention for external communications is needed
- communications, public relations, government relations
Additional Commentary
Commissioners were also asked via survey if they had any additional commentary/feedback that should be provided back to Council, responses received are set out below.
- communications with external stakeholders and partners is an immediate weak link that must be quickly addressed.
- I believe that this report demonstrated that the LTC is effectively managed – but like any institution – there are opportunities for improvement and I look forward to those. I deeply appreciate LTC staff for their steady and reliable management of the service while experiencing significant governance changes.
- Despite the changes – it is clear to me that the staff at LTC are laser focused at delivering a service as dependable as possible with the funds allotted to them, and I thank them for their persistent efforts.
- I wish the very best to the next group of Commissioners – and hope for a smooth four years of governance and leadership. I believe these tweaks will help the next cohort stay on track. It also demonstrates to me, as has been said before, that most of the issues with transit in the city of London stem from chronic underfunding – rather than governance issues.
Summary
As set out in the report recommendation, subsequent to Commission discussion at the August 31, 2026 meeting, Administration will prepare a summary of the feedback gathered from Commission members to be shared with Municipal Council.
Enclosure
I – LTC Governance Review Recommendations – Issues for Commission Consideration
Recommended by:
Kelly S. Paleczny, General Manager